Voluntary Contributions

fedweek

13 years ago

CSRS and CSRS-Offset (but not FERS) employees may make voluntary contributions to the retirement fund and earn market interest rates. CREATE LINK HERE TO RETIREMENT INTEREST RATES TABLE IN THIS SECTION However, voluntary contributions may only be made if you do not owe a deposit or redeposit to the retirement fund.

On retirement, the funds can be used to purchase additional annuity. Each $100 will buy you $7 a year plus an additional 20 cents for each year you are over age 55 when you retire.

Example 1

Age: 55

Voluntary contributions

plus interest: $8,600

Additional annuity

available: $602 per year

($8,600/100 x $7)

Example 2

Age: 62

Voluntary contributions

plus interest: $10,800

Additional annuity

available: $907.20 per year

($10,800/100 x $8.40)

Annuities purchased through the VC program are not increased by cost-of-living-adjustments (COLAs).

The 80 percent dollar limitation on your retirement annuity does not apply to any additional annuity purchased through the voluntary contributions program.

Alternatively, you can withdraw the money at any time and for any reason. If you have at least $200 in interest, you may roll the interest over into an IRA, thus deferring the taxes to a later date.
If you make a withdrawal, it must be for the entire amount in your account. No partial withdrawals are allowed. And, as a rule, if you receive a refund of your contributions, you may not open another account at a later time.

Voluntary contributions may be made at any time and in any amount, as long as they are at least $25 (or multiples of $25). Total contributions may not exceed 10 percent of the total basic pay you received during your entire federal career. Since that number increases with every pay period, you have a moving target of opportunity.